Music History

The Pipe Organ

From the 1950s through the mid-1960s, First Presbyterian Church of Oak Ridge had the only pipe organ in town. How that
organ was assembled is a story in itself. The original pipe organ was the brainchild of Ed Bettis, a nuclear engineer at
Oak Ridge National Laboratory and a former member of the Presbyterian Church in Morristown. When he learned that the
Morristown church was replacing its tracker organ with a new pipe organ, Bettis arranged for the Oak Ridge church to
receive the old Morristown organ as a gift in 1949 when the building plans for the church sanctuary were evolving. His
idea was to replace the mechanically opened valves of this organ with electrically operated valves and to add new pipes
to the existing ones. Over a six-month period in 1950, Bettis and his assistants electrified the organ by installing
about 1000 magnetic valves with more than 15 miles of wire.

Bettis hauled the organ parts from Morristown to a warehouse behind a store near the present downtown Oak Ridge, where
the organ was built and later played. Bettis received considerable help from James Andrews (not a church member), head of
the library at Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant who had one of the world's largest organ music libraries. Parts of the
organ were worked on in church members' homes. Wives of many of the 30 men who worked on the organ brought sweet rolls
and pots of hot coffee to the cold, bleak warehouse. Once they had the pleasure of hearing Bettis try out the organ by
playing "Nearer My God to Thee." Among the people helping Bettis construct the organ were Stanley Fulkerson, V. G. Lewis,
and Bob Lafferty. When it came time to move the organ from the warehouse to the sanctuary, Fulkerson writes, "We realized
that we had built a boat in the cellar and couldn't get it out." So part of the warehouse was torn down so that the pipe
organ could be moved to the sanctuary. Annetta (Mrs. T. R.) Jones, the church's first organist, played a small electronic
organ developed by Bettis from 1946 through 1950 in Pine Valley School and then the rebuilt Morristown organ in its early
days. In July 1953, Mrs. Jones and her family moved to Washington, D. C., so Peggy Carper was employed as church
organist, a job she held for 20 years. Bettis contributed to the church in other ways, too. He was well known locally as
a "great" Sunday School teacher. He was responsible for the church's present chandeliers, which were constructed from
scrap iron, fly screens, pie tins, and plastic. And he led church members in laying sewer lines and sidewalks, building
kitchen cabinets, and completing the landscaping and parking lot.

Sanctuary front in 1956

By 1957, it was apparent that the organ's capabilities did not match the needs of the growing congregation, so the
Session approved funds for upgrading it. Jimmy Marks, a member of the congregation and an organ buff; Ed Phares, an ORNL
biologist, and Joe Lee, an electrical engineer, player of piano and organ, and organ builder (later professionally),
located a used organ at St. John's Episcopal Church in Knoxville. This instrument, purchased for $308, became the basis
for the new pipe organ in the 1950s. The total cost for the project was estimated to be $1300. He was also the "on call"
person for organ upkeep for many years during the 20th century. The divisions of the church's organ, which are
collections of pipes that make various combinations of sounds, are the choir, swell, pedal, and great divisions. The
first three divisions for the updated organ came from the St. John's organ. The great division was built with new pipes.
Dick Busey constructed the attractive oak casework for the exposed chest on the wall over the choir seats, and many other
individuals helped build the chest, pipe racks, and other parts. One was the late Reverend Harry Hubbell, then 86, who
helped install the 445 valves that came from the first organ.

John Bigelow, John Keyes, and A. E. G. (Griff) Bates reprogrammed the combination machine and overhauled other parts
of the console (keyboard, pedals, and stops). The combination machine automatically selects different sets of pipes that
it turns on or off. The console was originally loaned by Lee, who later sold it to the church for $500. A new one would
cost about $30,000 today. By 1960, the partially completed organ was ready to be played, though Mrs. Carper remembers
that she had to manage without expression pedals and many of the pipes that were installed later. The organ has been used
ever since to accompany the choir and congregation in singing anthems and hymns and to play cantatas and fugues. The
dedicatory concert for the church was given by Alfred Lunsford, a Lutheran organist from Knoxville. In 1962, the first
concert for the community using this organ was presented by James Bloy of Maryville College, as a Coffee Concert
sponsored by the Oak Ridge Civic Music Association. From 1978 through 1980, the organ received another upgrade. The
session hired Joe Lee to rebuild the swell division by replacing the electro-pneumatic valves with solid-state electrical
ones.

By 1985, less than $10,000 had been invested in the project (mostly in 1955-1962 dollars); by contrast, a new pipe
organ of comparable size would cost at least $l50,000. Probably 150 individuals worked an estimated 8,000 hours on the
church organ. Current church members who worked countless hours on the construction of the organ are Roy Norris, John
Smith, and Ed Phares. In 1990, the pipe organ was refurbished by adding a newly reconditioned console. Says Phares, who
was once in charge of the continuing repair of the organ, "A pipe organ is like a cathedral; it's never finished!"

The organ was significantly upgraded starting in March 2003 and ending in September 2004. A recital was performed in
January 2005.

Sanctuary front in 2002

After the renovation in 2005

Organists and Choir Directors

While Annetta Jones was organist from 1946 through 1950, Thomas R. Disbrow, Riley Barrett, Mrs. R. W. Judd, and Gil
Scarbrough were choir directors. Disbrow left the church shortly after he had joined in August 1946. Barrett, who served
for nine months until his resignation in late August 1948, died shortly after leaving the church. Scarbrough left his
church position in 1953 to be able to devote more time to his position as band director of Oak Ridge High School; until
the early 1980s he was vice principal at the school.

In 1953, two years after Peggy Carper was hired as the organist, her husband Harry Carper became choir director. In
the 1950s the congregation grew to the size of 1,000 people and a choir of 35 members. Two Sunday worship services were
held, at 8:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m., so the adult choir was responsible for two services. (Today the church has only one
worship service, held at 10:00 a.m.)

The Carpers resigned on September 1, 1962, and John Dyer, a music teacher at Robertsville Junior High School with a
B.A. degree from Furman University in Greeneville, South Carolina, took over as both organist and choir director. Dyer
left in the fall of 1963 to earn a master's degree in music from Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. The Carpers
returned in 1963 and remained in their capacities until they resigned again in 1970. The Carpers remained very active in
the life of the music ministry of the church until they died. Harry Carper, a bass singer in the adult choir, served as
choir director when needed; Peggy Carper, an alto in the adult choir, also served as children's choir accompanist for
many years. The children's choirs, which were organized by Dorotha Phillips in the 1950s, were rehearsed and conducted by
Barbara Johnston, Marilyn Ayres, Wordna Agee (interim), Roberta Sommerfeld, Jackie Faulcon, Arlette Conklin, and Mary Lou
Gast.

Gordon Warner became choir director on April 17, 1971, and in 1973, Jim Allen, an Albion College student working in
Oak Ridge under the Great Lake Colleges Program, became organist.

Jim Allen - 1973

He continued playing the organ as much as he could while studying at UT to become an engineer. During his leaves of
absence (to spend more time with his twin sons whose mother, Diane DeBinder Allen, once sang solos with our church
choir), Norma Williams (now deceased), an organist for 28 years at the River Forest (Illinois) Presbyterian Church,
filled in for him.

Jim Allen - 2015

Today Jim remains the church organist and celebrated his 40th anniversary in this position in 2013. Although he is a
hobby musician, many people in the church are impressed by Allen's outstanding ability to perform Bach fugues, Widor
toccatas, and other major works. Interestingly, he keeps a computer database of all the works he has played and the dates
he has played them. He always plays major works around the time of important church events such as Christmas and Easter,
and he performs classical organ pieces at weddings and memorial services.

On May 7, 1978, Arlene Crawford became the new choir director, replacing Gordon Warner, who had resigned.

Arlene Crawford - 1979

An accomplished pianist, piano teacher, and accompanist for the Oak Ridge Chorus, Mrs. Crawford revitalized the
musical life of the church with her great musical talent, enthusiasm, and contagious smile. That September she organized
three youth choirs - the Cherub Choir for preschool children, the Carol Choir for elementary and middle school children,
and the Westminster Choir for teens. She continued to rehearse them weekly, and they sang in church monthly during the
school year during her career at the church. Periodically, the youth groups present cantatas in full costume on Biblical
characters such as Moses, David and Goliath, and Deborah. Other cantatas presented by the children’s and youth choirs
were Once Upon a Night (1981, 1984, 1992), Babble at Babel, 100% Chance of Rain (1980, 1986), A Reason To Rejoice
(performed in area churches in 1982), A Star To Follow (1988, 1991), Five Loaves and Two Fishes (1985), Rejoice Mass
(1985, 1990), Sing Carols of Joy (1985, 1989), What a Wonderment (1984), A Star to Follow (1988), It's Cool in the
Furnace (1991), A Night for Dancing (children’s cantata, 1993); and Calling All Angels (Carol Choir cantata with Mary
Mullins and Peggy Terpstra as soloists, 1999). The above choirs were fortunate to have outstanding regular accompanists:
Peggy Carper, Helen Rush, Nancy Coutant, Karen Rhoades, and Diane Beeler.

Mrs. Crawford taught the young choir members how to accompany themselves on Orff instruments that had been purchased
in 1979 by a church benefactor and on hand chimes added to the choir program in 1993. She encouraged youth and adult
church members to play their instruments during worship services. For example, Chuck Hadden, a Chancel Choir tenor singer
who composes music for the choir to sing, often accompanies the choirs on recorder or flute. Peggy Terpstra has played
many well-received clarinet solos. And Mrs. Crawford's daughter Susan played many violin solos during church services in
her high school years and during Christmas services annually while a college student and working musician. Other
instrumentalists who have performed at church services are Richard Ward, Andy Bostick, and Brian Crawford (Mrs.
Crawford's son) on trumpet; John and Frances Drake on recorders; Nathan Barrett and Brian Crawford on drums; Greg Horne,
Don Mykles, Steve Shappert, Evan Horne, Scott Trowbridge, Susanna Drake, Diane Krause, and Gene Ice, on guitar; Linda
Coutant on violin; Scott Trowbridge on bass; Dvera Hadden on viola; Steve Krause, Diane Krause, Susanna Drake, and Lydia
Hadden on piano (Lydia also played harpsichord).

Mrs. Crawford gave her choirs ambitious assignments each year. At least twice a year the adult Chancel Choir sang long
excerpts from church classics to the accompaniment of a small orchestra or brass ensemble. In 1978 the adult choir
performed Daniel Pinkham’s Christmas Cantata (with brass) and Franz Schubert’s Mass in G (string quartet). In 1979 Orff
instruments were purchased for the preschool choir (Cherub Choir). The adult choir sang G. F. Handel’s Messiah (part 1
and 2) to the accompaniment of a small orchestra conducted by Edgar Meyer Sr.). In 1980 the adult choir performed J. S.
Bach’s Gloria in Excelsis with a small orchestra. Mrs. Crawford directed Babble at Bable, her first youth choir cantata
at FPC. In 1981 the choir sang Bach’s Easter Cantata and a reprise of Pinkham’s Christmas Cantata. In 1982 she led a
youth choir family tour to Chattanooga and other cities, where the choirs sang A Reason to Rejoice. The adult choir
performed Gabriel Faure’s Requiem.

The Madrigal Singers

And the costumed Madrigal Singers, consisting of half the members of the adult choir, started a tradition of providing
enjoyable, centuries-old music during the Christmas season. They sang at a Christmas dinner at the church and around
town.

In September 1983, under Mrs. Crawford's direction, the choir performed a reprise of Faure’s Requiem (with an
orchestra and Wordna Agee as soloist) in a benefit concert for members of the community; the concert raised over $1,000
to support the medical mission abroad of Dr. Bob Dunlap, local surgeon and Chancel Choir member who also composed and
arranged music for the choir. In December 1983 the Chancel Choir was one of seven church choirs who joined the Oak Ridge
Chorus in presenting a concert for the whole community entitled Sing Christmas. In the spring of 1984 the Westminster
Choir and members of their families went on tour in Tennessee to present the cantata Celebrate Life (with drums, guitar,
and dancing), which was well received.

The youth and adult choirs also performed staged and costumed cantatas together, as in a 1990 production of Gian Carlo
Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors (featuring Susan Sharp as the mother; Diane Krause as Amahl, the crippled son;
Oakley Crawford, Bob Dunlap, and Chuck Hadden as the three wise kings, and Steve Krause as page) and in a 1994 debut
production of the rock opera Deborah written by church members Steve and Carolyn Krause (Diane Krause, Carolyn and Herb’s
daughter and Steve's sister, played the role of Deborah and Steve played Barak). Amahl and Deborah, two special programs
that resulted from the combined efforts of the Youth and Chancel Choirs, were both staged and televised for the
community.

1995-2015

In celebration of the church’s 50th anniversary in 1995, Arlene Crawford led the Chancel Choir in performing Brahm’s
Requiem with a 25-piece orchestra and John Rutter’s Te Deum. The Chancel Choir also performed with five local church
choirs in an ecumenical choir festival. The Westminster Choir traveled to Davidson College in North Carolina to sing with
the youth choir there in a Sunday worship service. Fifteen singers from the church attended the Montreat Music &
Worship Conference in Montreat, N.C.

In 1996 the youth choirs performed the Celebrate Life Rock Cantata and the adult choir performed Handel’s Messiah and
Brahms’ Requiem during an April homecoming event in which the new grand piano in the sanctuary was dedicated in memory of
our first installed minister, Bob Thomas. In February 1997 the adult choir participated with two other church choirs in
the Ecumenical Choir Festival at First Baptist Church. In April, Arlene Crawford led the Chancel choir and an
accompanying orchestra in a performance of Rutter’s Gloria. In 1998 the Chancel and Westminster choirs sang Faure’s
Requiem on Palm Sunday and Vivaldi’s Gloria before Christmas. The children’s choirs were renamed Joyful Noise and
Celebration Singers. In 1999 the adult choir sang Robert Ray’s Gospel Mass in May (with youth participants) and Francis
Poulenc’s Gloria in December (with Oak Ridge Chorus members and orchestra).

March 12, 2000, was a big musical day in the life of our church. The adult choir sang Renee Clausen's A New Creation
during the worship service and then sang it that evening under Arlene’s direction as part of a mass choir and orchestra
concert. Other participants in this “Concert for the New Millennium” at First Baptist Church were the First Baptist and
First United Methodist choirs. Their directors conducted two other major works. Arlene directed A New Creation at a
similar event in the same venue in 2005.

In the 21st century, the adult and youth choirs, led by Arlene and later Anna Thomas, continued the traditions of the
previous decades by attending worship and music conferences in June at Montreat, N.C., providing opportunities for youth
and adults to play their instruments or sing during worship services, and hosting college choirs and soloists who sing
and play during the services. During the Christmas season in 2001, the musical highlights of the year included two
performances of Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors, featuring Peggy Bertrand Terpstra as the mother; her daughter
Sarah Terpstra as Amahl; Oakley Crawford, Bob Dunlap, and Herb Krause as the kings, and Ross Hilliard as the page. Arlene
and Jim Allen played two pianos.

In 2002 the Chancel Choir performed Rutter’s Requiem in the spring and a Rutter’s Gloria with anthems featuring the
Madrigals, ringers, and brass in December. Also that year, the FPC and Davidson College Presbyterian Church (N.C.) youth
choirs did an exchange in which each sang at the other’s church. In 2003 Maundy Thursday was enhanced by a special
musical service written by Eric Bjorklund of Los Alamos, N.M.; he and his wife attended our church during the year he
spent guiding the construction of part of ORNL’s Spallation Neutron Source. The Westminster and Carol choirs sang and
played hand chimes as they performed the Paul & Company cantata in costume. Also in 2003, Arlene Crawford’s 25th service
anniversary was celebrated. As a gift to Arlene, composer Alice Parker was commissioned to write an original piece that
the Chancel Choir performed several times.

The Chancel and youth choirs sang the premier of Parker’s “All Earth Shout for Joy” in 2004. That year a new sound
system was installed in the sanctuary, and Dan Vaughan from Rockwall, Texas rebuilt the organ.

During this time the sound system and booth were completely rebuilt.

Dick Lord proudly
showing his newly-installed board

The small
plaque thanking Dick Lord and Paul Rohwer, April 2016

The board was
seriously updated in October 2017.

While the organ was out of service, UT’s David Brunell provided piano accompaniment for choir and congregational
singing. The adult choir performed the Brahms Requiem in April and Daniel Pinkham’s Christmas Cantata.

In January 2005 a dedication concert was held for the rebuilt organ, with church organist Jim Allen and organ
renovator Dan Vaughn playing it for the public, including area organists. The adult choir performed a “Hal Hopson:
Festival of Hymns” concert, accompanied by brass, horns, timpani, trumpets, chimes, and ringers. The Lessons and Carols
service, sung by the choirs and congregation, featured songs by composer Hopson.

In 2006 our church family hosted 12 talented singers and drummers of the Presbyterian Choir of the Congo. The choir
provided evening worship music, part of which was televised by WBIR, and told of problems in the Democratic Republic of
the Congo. Under Arlene’s direction, the adult choir, assisted by outside singers and accompanied by a brass ensemble,
performed Rutter’s Te Deum. The youth and adult choirs presented excerpts from Robert Ray’s Gospel Mass, and a new hand
chime choir performed during several worship services.

In 2007 bagpipe music returned to the sanctuary with the revival of the Banner service. The big choir event was the
Christmas Concert December 16 for church members and the community. FPC’s Chancel Choir sang K. Lee Scott’s Christmas
Cantata. The 16 members of the Chancel Choir were joined by 12 singers from the Oak Ridge Chorus. The concert’s music
included excerpts of John Ferguson’s Magnificat and Rutter’s Gloria.

At the end of August 2009, Arlene Crawford retired. In January 2009 she directed the adult choir in performing the
Brahms Requiem (with her daughter, violinist Susan Crawford, as concert master); the Rutter Magnificat and favorite
anthems as a retirement worship concert, and parts of the Faure Requiem during the worship hour on August 30. A dinner
and program were held in her honor.

Anna Thomas

Anna Thomas, who plays flute and sings beautifully, was hired as the new director of music, and began work at FPC in
September 2009. She restarted the youth choir with local musician Wendel Werner as part-time accompanist.

Gene Ice started a guitar workshop, which continues to teach church members and guests how to play simple music on the
guitar.

Guitar lesson workshop

The guitarists perform in worship services, at retreats, and in special services for the Drug Rehabilitation Center at
the Morgan County Correctional Complex.

In 2010, our church hosted the Presbytery of East Tennessee quarterly meeting. Singers from FPC and Graystone
Presbyterian sang for the morning service, accompanied by Wendel Werner, music director of Graystone. During the summer,
small ensembles sang or played. FPC hosted the handbell choir from Graystone Presbyterian Church, which performed during
the Lessons and Carols service in December.

In 2012 a new guitarist enhanced worship services: the Rev. Sharon Youngs, who was installed in October and also
brought her singing and piano skills.

Sharon and a group rehearsing

At the first Service of Memory and Hope she initiated, Sharon and Anna played guitar-and-flute duets. Sharon sometimes
sings in the choir. Both have played guitar and flute separately in a number of worship services. In May 2014, Anna
and Andrew Duncan, music director at First United Methodist Church in Oak Ridge, organized a concert in which the
church’s two choirs were accompanied by members of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra. Our church held a chili cook-off to
raise funds to defray orchestra costs. The concert featured the performance of the uplifting Sunrise Mass by Norwegian
composer Ola Gjeilo.

Copies of a new hymnal, Glory to God, arrived and were dedicated in November, replacing the previous hymnal
that Sharon was involved with while working for the national church -- Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) -- in Louisville,
Kentucky.

Hymnals circa 1952, 1992 and 2013

In October 2014, FPC and Graystone Presbyterian collaborated to host a Hymnfest using Glory to God. Singers and
instrumentalists from area churches participated in the afternoon service held at Graystone. The speaker for the event
was the Rev. Mary Margaret Flannagan, Hymnal Advocacy and Relations Coordinator.

In 2014-15, at the request of Anna, Knoxville composer John Purifoy set six psalms to his original music for a Service
of Psalms held in February in the Methodist church during Lent. Purifoy played piano, Anna played flute, Duncan played
violin, and Simon Hogg played organ, as the FPC choir and three other choirs sang.

One long-time musical tradition at the church, started by Arlene Crawford, is to invite attendees at the Easter Sunday
worship service to come up to the choir loft near the end of the service and join the choir in singing the “Hallelujah
Chorus” of Handel’s Messiah. The uplifting, glorious music brings joy to the choir singers and congregation.